Well, it’s really happening. I will go back to “america” tomorrow. For a little while. To celebrate #75. To get my chipped front tooth fixed. To get my taxes to “the tax guy”. To see my Asylum Sisters. Then back to Adventures Before Alzheimer’s.
I have been feeling kinda smug about my hotel, Ace Hotel – in New Orleans. The blue line is a major Mardi Gras parade route. Great location. But, wait. I was thinking like a 50-year-old. Not like a 75-year-old. No way I would survive 4+ hours of riotous parade watching. So, I ordered up “Grandstand” seating for myself in Lafayette Square. That is a definite old person move. My “grandstand” seating is for March 5 – AKA Fat Tuesday. There are 4 parades scheduled along that route on Tuesday. There are 2 parades on Monday night. I’ll just wing that one. But, I really want to see the Fat Tuesday Parade which involves 3 traditional krewes and one that is “trucks”.
Two of the parade krewes have rather extensive web site.
And which krewe is under pressure to stop parading in blackface? You would be wrong. The Krewe of Zulu parades in blackface.
Quote from the New Orleans Advocate:
About a dozen protesters Thursday evening held signs, chanted “Take it off” and tried to engage passing rush-hour motorists in conversation. Across Broad Street, about 40 Zulu members milled around the clubhouse, sometimes shouting back at the activists.
As the rally continued, a Zulu member ducked into his Bentley to hastily slap on the group’s signature face paint before flaunting it in front of the protesters. He then passed the makeup to another member, who did likewise.
emphasis mine – laissez le bon temp rouler
This is the culture that gave us Huey Long. And, my father.
. . .
I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.